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This article is reprinted from The Hanford Sentinel as written by Christian Mattos. Originally published Aug. 26, 2017.

The day before her 22nd birthday, Madeline Pedro found out she was hired as a stadium operations assistant for the Denver Broncos Stadium Management Company, with two weeks to move from Pasadena to Denver to begin the next chapter of her life.

“I feel like my life just completely changed in two weeks,” Pedro said.

This new job took Pedro on an 18-hour car ride with her father to Colorado.

“It was a rush,” Trayce Pedro, Madeline’s mother, said. “I think there was two weeks where she lived without furniture and she only had a duffel bag full of clothes because there was a snowstorm that delayed all of her belongings.”

But Madeline’s determination and drive started at a young age, and her mother knew she would make it all work out.

Madeline Pedro was born and raised in Hanford, where she grew up on her family’s dairy farm. At Hanford High School, she was involved in FFA and Portuguese celebrations, and she was also a cheerleader on the varsity squad.

After graduating from California State University, Fresno, in spring of 2016 with her bachelor’s degree in recreation administration with an emphasis in sports and entertainment facility management, she moved to Pasadena for an internship for event management with the Rose Bowl Operating Company at the Rose Bowl Stadium.

Pedro was eager to find a job after her internship, and she said she visited a job search website tailored to the sports and entertainment industry, teamworkonline.com. Through the website, she found and applied for the position at the Denver Broncos stadium, the Sports Authority Field at Mile High. After about two weeks, she was contacted for a phone interview. She later heard back for her second interview, which was conducted via Skype call.

“I was so excited, I didn’t think I was going to hear back from them the first time,” she said. “We ended that [second] interview and probably three hours later, they called and offered me the position.”

Matt Shine, the senior operations manager, was involved in Pedro’s hiring process. He said that she came across as very professional during her interview.

“She’s a very efficient worker,” he said. “When given a project, she doesn’t need a whole lot of direction. If she has questions, she’s not afraid to speak them out. She’s able to really tackle projects within a short amount of time and move right on to the next one.”

Pedro began working as a stadium operations assistant in December 2016, and the position has landed her a lot of responsibility and valuable experience. She maintains administrative work by keeping records of the overall operations of the stadium, including department purchases and contracted vendor insurance information.

“The more exciting part of my job is I was just recently promoted to the lead in the command center for all of our major events,” she said. “Basically, what the command center does is it monitors the event inside and outside the stadium and controls the security functions for that specific event.”

Pedro works alongside security, fire, EMS, police, guest relations and housekeeping personnel during events to monitor for safety of the fans and everyone involved. They receive calls regarding any incidents that may occur and log the situations, whether they are small issues like a fan slipping and falling, or more serious complications that might involve an evacuation plan.

“We’re trained to handle those situations and follow a specific protocol to get everybody out safely,” she said. “It’s kind of like Big Brother always having an eye on everything that’s going on.”

Madeline’s mother said that her daughter’s tenacity was present when she was a child, whether it was as a competitive gymnast or as the little sister following her older brother’s footsteps.

“As a parent, I think there’s only three things that you really want for your kids,” Trayce Pedro said. “You want them to be happy and healthy and satisfied with their life. To see what she’s done in such a short amount of time, I attribute it to her own inner determination.”

Shine has worked with Pedro during the different events that are put on at the Sports Authority Field at Mile High, and he said that she is a good fit for the company.

“We have a lot of weekends and a lot of late nights,” he said. “It’s a very family-oriented group. She fits in well. She has a sense of humor and she’s very personable.”

Pedro said that while Hanford will always be a special place to her, the work she does at the stadium has a positive impact that can be seen in the community and is personally fulfilling.

“[The Denver Broncos] have such a dedicated and lifelong fan base here in Colorado,” Pedro said. “It’s kind of crazy. You walk around the streets and somebody somewhere is going to be wearing Bronco stuff. They love this team so much, and so to be a part of that organization and part of what makes the games such an experience for fans is really such a rewarding feeling.”

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The College of Health and Human Services at Fresno State empowers students to take a whole body approach to improving the quality of life, with faculty and students who are dedicated to helping Central California Live Well. There are seven academic departments within our College, including: Communicative Sciences and Deaf Studies, Kinesiology, Physical Therapy, Public Health, Recreation Administration, School of Nursing and Social Work Education and Gerontology.
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